The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-07-31
THE SACRED CITY OF MECCA
Mrs. Gen. Lew Wallace Writes of Pill
grimage to the Mount Of Mercy.
Description of the Holy Paraphernalia in the
Temple of Notwithstanding and Sermon
On Mount Arafat Where Angels Listen.



the House Of Allan, at Mecca, he found it empty
the Holy of Holes in Jerusalem when pro
famed By the tread of the victorious Pompey.
The Building has been destroyed by FIRE and
other .crces and rebuilt ten times. Its first plan
was made By angelic architects. of what mate
rial we do not know. In 1927 it was built as i,
stone. The floods of previous years had thrown
down three sides. and the fourth was removed
after the priests decided that mortal might
lawfully remove part of the sacred structure
without charge of sacrilege and inidelity.
The present door was brought from Constan-
tinople in the year 1888, and is of silver, burn
ished with gilt. Every night before it are
ranged lighted wax-candles and perfume pans,
filed with musk and burning aloe wood. The
drippings of the wax and the ashes of the
wood, with dust from the hallowed threshold,
are collected by devotees and rubbed on their
foreheads as preventives of sickness; and under
puch treatment invalids regain strength. 1t
Is the proud boast of the faithful that at no
hour, day or night, throughout the year, is the
1aaba to be seen without it's worshpers.
A crowd of idlers, or, might call them,
oafers hang about the mosque; conspicuous
among them eighty eunuchs, who are in charge
Of the sanctuary, the mystic bride yelled from
he gaze of the vulgar.
All pilgrims do not enter the Holy of Holes.
which is plain cubical building of stone and
Hoe wood perhaps. because of the obligations
)he act imposes Who steps within that nal-
owed precinct must never again walk bare
looted, tell lies, and he must take up fire
with his fingers There is an old, old Oriental
myth, that the Israelites who settled Mt Mecca
connected the primitive pagan temple with the
Hebrew faith, and the laws of Moses were there
expounded
The veil now curtainiER the shrine is of brill
liant black in sharp contrast with the zone or
golden band running round the upper portion OF
the building, and the golden face-veil tBurka or
door-curtainl which of dazzling brightness
The prophet preferred kiswal Tor coverug)
Of fine Yemen cloth paid for from the public
treasury. When it had served it's time and was
TO be removed, Ayesha. the beautiful wife,
directed it to be sold and the profit to be divided
among the poor.
The idea about the consecrated drapery was
to bury the inestimable relic. that it might not
be Worn by the impure of heart At this age
the Meccans sell it, but the money is not dis
ributed, as the mother of the Moslems directed.
The officers of the mosque keep the proceeds.
jacket of the stuff makes the wearer invul-
Derable in battle. and scraps of it are presents
1T for princes and high dignitaries. A small
"trip is a precious Koran mark, cherished a
and kissed in n passion of adorati
when first grasped by the eager hand of the
wal ting pilgrim. Various kaliphs have changed
Its fashion; in the twelfth century it was of
black silk, renewed yearly by the Kaliph OF
Bagdad-
Again we read il was of fine linen, changed
every year. the old covering distributed In
shreds among the pilgrims as antidotes to poison
a amt nF n min let
was of brocade, and in the ninth century the
dress was changed twice a year, then every two
months, and the honor of supplying it passed
from Bagdad to Egypt and Yemen.
When the Holy land fell under the power of the
Osmapli, Sultan Sci N ordered the kiswal to be
BLACK, fater'it was a fine Arabian CLOAK, and then
green and gold, the eolors of the Prophet.
The privilege of making the holy drapery is
now a hereditary honor in the keeping of owners
of cotton factory in Cairo. 1t is of red silk
and cotton mixed and is lined with white muslin.
The seams are hidden By a broad band of gold.
1t is said that formerly the whole Koran was
interviewer there. Now it is inscribed, Verify,
the first of houses. founded for mankind to
worship in is that Bakkah, blessed and dlrec-
ton to all creatures" Under this appears the
throne verselet and titles of the reigning Sultan.
Here are few of his titles: 1.-The Sultan of
Sultans, Emperor of Emperors. Brother OF the
Sun, Shadow of God upon Earth, Dispenser of
crowns to those who SIT upon thrones, Sovereign
Of the three great cities-Constartlnople, the
pearl of two seas. Broussa, and OF Damascus,
which is the scent of Paradise, and of Egypt,
which is the rarity of the age. King of Kings,
of the Faithful, whose Army is the
ASYLUM of Victory at the foot of whose throne
is Justice and the Refuge of the World"
These lines of gold worked into red silk.
like the face veil door curtain, and this ia the
hanging which, in the sacred month of Rama
gan, rises and falls with the waving wings of
the heavenly host. lowering unseen about the
mosque
The huge silver-gilt paddock of the Kaaba is
revered, and IN the eyes of the devotee almost
potent as the key of Paradise. Its hereditary
guardians are of the proudest families of Islam,
the sangre azul of Mecca. The of the
key is of silk striped red. black and green.
EN- brodered with gold letters on it are the Bis
MILAN name of Godl the name of the reigning
Sultan, and this is the Bag of the Key of the
Holy Kaaba."
Let us speak of pilgrim rights with respect.
The earnestness of the profession lends q dig
nifty TO the cause. and,it is intolerant to con-
denim any feeling that Is ger uine
The web Zem-zem is in the court about the
mosque, the open space called the Harem. The
word known to us as a lookup for women In
general sense, means any spot peculiarly
;onsecratsd. and set apart, delicate and
beautiful meaning to the Oriental Be- i
side the spring. the kneeing pilgrim re-
ah, shadow in thy shadow that day
when there Is no shade but Thy shadow, and
sause me to drink from the cup of Thy prophet
Mohammed. May Allah bless and preserve
him, that pleasant draught, after which there is
no thirst to all eternity IL overcome by heat
IN the way from the holy spring to Mount Ara
TAT. three miles distant, the devotee dies appar-
entity without pain, falling though shot
through the heart. and after brief spasm the
body is still marble-the usual symptoms of
by the pilgrim travelling under his
VOW regarded as touch from the finger of
Allah.
On the great day after the assembling of pill
grims, when the sermon is preached on Mount
Arafat, the priests say the numbers of the faith
full there are past counting and not to be re-
membered. II less than 100000 mortals stand
'n the hill to hear the sermon. angels descend
10 complete the number. There is such falling
off in pilgrimage that some years myriads of
Ipirits in human form obliged to come
Down in order to make up the mystic multitude.
The change is rot through lack of piety or of in
sxorable constancy, but because of the excessive
poverty of Islam
The privauons Of the pilgrims are unspeak-
Able To die by the way may come acct
dent. but such marryrdom is not sought except
BY the reckless. almost insane devotees of India
making explanation for sins which, though scar
ct, are thus made white snow. Ample time
Ices that journey give for reflection and repent
AncA. all may TINS b0 swept AWAY. thew will